Last week we talked about teaching your children about money so that they become financially literate at their formative stages. One of the simplest ways to teach your child about money, specifically about saving is by the use of Piggy banks. A Piggy bank (sometimes penny bank or money box) is the traditional name of a coin accumulation and storage receptacle; it is most often, but not exclusively, used by children.

During The Middle Ages, metal was expensive and was rarely used for household wares. Instead, dishes and pots were made of economical clay called pygg. Whenever housewives could save an extra coin, they dropped it into one of their clay jars.

They called this their pygg bank or their piggy bank. When people found this important role it could play in the home, they forgot that "pygg” referred to the earthenware material.

In the nineteenth century when English potters received requests for piggy banks, they produced banks shaped like a pig, more so because the pigs appealed to the customers and delighted the children.

All over the world, parents teach their children how to save by showing them that if you drop one coin into a sealed container with only a small space that only a coin fits, sooner or later you will have a tin full of coins.

The main lesson is that learning to save money is all about delayed gratification. But many financial institutions like banks have come up with piggy banks that parents can give as gifts tot heir children.

Each gift helps children think about setting and achieving goals, rather than just putting aside money because it’s good for them. Thus the main message is fortified by children’s fun hence being able to attract a child’s attention better.

A piggy bank helps one to realize that it is easy to lose track of pocket change. Try throwing all the fifty francs and all the smaller coins in one tin or cup everyday you reach home in the evening.

You will be surprised how much that piles up into ten thousand francs before you know it. Piggy banks are not for children only. Adults can use them for collection of pocket change as illustrated above.

It is also a very effective savings tool because you never really mind about what you throw there until the day when its weight arouses your curiosity.

Owning a piggy bank will also help your child realize the value of saving money for the future. Through this piggy bank, you can let your child learn about the importance of saving money.

While your child is still young, it is important that you teach him/her that saving money for the future is very important.

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